HV Autoquote is a nationally significant trial that could revolutionise the customer experience for HV connection requests by developing an online self-serve tool for formal connection offers that will reduce the time to quote from weeks to minutes.
What is the project about?
Providing formal connection offers to customers for new HV connections requires UK Power Networks to undertake several manual activities which can take weeks to complete. This process is slow, labour intensive and ultimately the connection offer may not be accepted by the customer. Customers are also often dissatisfied with the process as there is a lack of visibility for how the costs are calculated and the network constraints.
The number of connection requests are expected to grow by at least 40% by 2028 and using current processes, this would require a significant increase in work to maintain the same performance and level of customer service.
HV Autoquote aims to improve the customer service for HV connection requests by working with software providers EA Technology to develop an online self-serve tool for formal connection offers (between 300 kVA – 1 MVA) and budget estimates (1 MVA – 2.5 MVA) that will reduce the time to quote from weeks to minutes and enable a larger volume of quotes to be delivered to customers.
How we’re doing it
This project will deliver an online externally available self-serve tool to provide high voltage connection offers to UK Power Networks’ customers. Customers will be able to drop an asset on a map and draw a connection. To do so requires detailed discovery and documentation of the current manual processes, underlying data and costing logic. The processes and data will then be codified for the online tool and tested against manually generated connection offers. The tool will then be built, integrated with UK Power Networks existing systems and processes, and tested with customers in live trials post implementation.
What makes it innovative
Offers for new HV connections require several manual activities that are not always linear. Connection offer trials to date in the UK have been focused on providing self-serve budget estimates. HV Autoquote goes beyond budget estimates and will enable UK Power Networks’ to be the first UK Distribution Network Operator to offer instantaneous formal quotes that customers can accept. A key element of this innovation is codifying the complex logic for traffic management costs.
What we’re learning
HV Autoquote is aiming to learn:
What logic and data are currently used to manually produce HV connection offers
How HV Autoquote can codify the logic used to make connection offer decisions, including automating traffic management cost calculations
How HV Autoquote can build a self-service tool that automates formal connection offers and integrates with UK Power Network’s existing systems and processes and meets regulatory requirements
Identify processes and procedures required for deployment of HV Auto Quote as BAU and opportunities to scale the solution beyond UK Power Networks’ license areas
Share your ideas
If you have an idea that could reshape or revolutionise the way we work, we want to hear from you.
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